Hello everyone, this is my 12th bowl that I have "successfully" completed and my 2nd segmented bowl.
I made it for my Fathers nurse for a Christmas present. Im am pretty proud of this one as it is the finest piece I have made thus far.
This one was a lot of fun. enjoy.

Lathes are very dangerous and you can become seriously injured or even killed operating one. I have a lot of experience and knowledge you should only attempt this project if you have sufficient knowledge, experience and safety gear.

Step 1: Lumber Selection and Preperation.

You can make this out of any type of wood you choose, though I would suggest using hardwoods.
I chose some Harvested Maple from a friend and some Black walnut I brought from eastern Tennessee.
These two woods accent each other wonderfully.

I didn't measure anything except the bowls finish dimension. also take into account your lathe "swing" allowance, My Delta 46-460 has a 12 1/2" swing. so I chose to make the bowl around 11 1/2 - 12" in diameter.

The bowl consists of a solid walnut base with progressively larger "rings" of segmented octagonal circles stacked on top of one-another for a grand total of 5 rings of 8 segments each each segment is cut at 22.5° at each end. each set of segments per ring must be the same length

after choosing the lumber you need to rip it into strips. I chose 1 1/2" widths but looking back I coulkd have gone less.
once you have enough lumber ripped for your bowl (you have to do the math) cut all of your segment for the bowl one ring at a time. this will ensure you have the same sized segments for each ring.

Step 2: Time to Glue Up the Rings

I used 3- 4" hose clamps joined together to clamp the rings individually. I bought a total of 8 clamps and used two glue sessions to complete the rings.
Use yellow wood glue. I used Titebond I it is fine for this project and pretty cheap to boot. you have a 10 - 20 minute set time and the glue cleans up nicely with water.
after your glue dries you must sand each ring flat. This is a very very important step as they need to be as flat as possible to ensure a tight bond there is nothing worse than having a piece come apart at 1200 RPMs :(
after your glued rings are dry and sanded you can now stack them on top of one another one at a time glueing each surface making contact. also make sure you align your rings the way you want them. and as your gluing the rings check back on that often as they tend to slide around a bit.
after they are glued and stacked properly clamp them and walk away overnight...

Step 3: Mount and Turn the Blank on Your Lathe

There are a lot of different ways to do this and if you are attempting this project I am leaving this entirely up to you. however I did use a 3" faceplate attached to a scrap block then glued to the base of the bowl.

I am also not going into detail on how I came up with the shape as again, if you are attempting this you will want to choose your own design.

Step 4: Finish Sand and Cut Off the Scrap Block

After you have rough and finished turned the inside and outside you must sand, then sand, then sand sand sand some more.
this is also a very very important step. I am also not going into extreme detail on how to sand because if you are attepting this you should know already how to finish sand. I will add though I sanded from 80 through 800 grit.

After you have sanded it through 800 you can add a food safe finish for it. I made a concoction of "Beeswax and Mineral oil"
Its best to apply the first coat while the bowl is still mounted to the lathe as the speed will help generate heat and melt the wax deeper into the wood fibers. after at least two coats its time to cut it off the scrap block.

once its off the lathe you can sand flat the bottom and apply a thick heavy coat of the same finish to the bottom.
at the same time you could apply a few more coats to it to further protect the piece you have created.
Thanks for checking it out.

Step 5: *****Update on the Finish 03/18/2013

I got to see this bowl again recently and I must say the bowl looks great, even after several salads and washings. The finish has only been applied one time since she received it and while I had it, I applied a fresh coat and it looks as good as day one!.